


secret santa

by allieteration



Category: It Lives (Visual Novels), It Lives in the Woods (Visual Novel)
Genre: Choices, Choices: Stories You Play - Freeform, Christmas Fluff, M/M, Playchoices - Freeform, Secret Santa, Visual Novel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 02:04:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16965657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allieteration/pseuds/allieteration
Summary: a holiday long-form drabble in which the it lives in the woods gang celebrates christmas festivities in the fashion of secret santa—only gifts aren’t the only secrets being unveiled.





	secret santa

**Author's Note:**

> secret santa is, in fact, for a secret santa project hosted by @choicesecretsanta, aka @beckettharrington, aka ellie, on tumblr. my secret santa is @choicesaholic on tumblr, and one of their described interests is it lives in the woods; chiefly, lucas x m!mc. thus, i took on the challenge of depicting a story they would prefer to read, and illustrating christmas in a way i would prefer to write. out of this, secret santa was born. my hope is that, above all, chetav enjoys the whimsy of the wintertide and holiday season the utmost—and the remainder of my audience.

december 24th; christmas eve—glinting bulbs strewn around the tenderhearted glow of street lamps, the golden illumination sparkling like violaceous grape cider in crystalline champagne flutes against the summits of snowfall. wreaths with cardinal ribbon and silver ornaments were suspended from the entryways of westchester’s businesses, the hardware store’s jestingly adorned with wrenches and hammers; nuts and bolts. you ambled along main street with stacy’s arm entangled around your shoulder clad in a woolen jacket and scarf your grandmother had knitted for you the prior wintry season. stacy’s sweltering breath with a sickly sweet fragrance of eggnog and rum enveloped you as she laughed into your ear over a dull and intoxicated wisecrack ava had doled out. lucas was in a similar position on the opposite side of you—you could feel your heartbeat pulsating inside of you, every _tha-thump_ ricocheting off your ribcage like a bullet casing from a handgun, your chest a warm ache. he was _close_ ; he had been close like this before at that thanksgiving party the previous month when you each had had the lion’s share of red wine out of ava’s parents’ liquor cabinet. only now, you were wholly sober, and everything was _real_. snowflakes fluttered down around you as your companions pirouetted around, refracting against the lamplight like sunshine in a lagoon, and thrusted their arms toward the sky.  
_“i’m dreaming of a white christmas,”_ dan crooned, the others coupling with his melodious tune. you and lily, who was the second designated sober singleton of the twilight, shook your heads and chuckled to yourselves at their merriment.  
soon, you reached your household, where everybody stumbled inside and onto sofas and reclining chairs. however, before you could breach the threshold, lucas clutched your scarf and wrenched you in, your lips gently brushing his.  
“what was that for?” you questioned, breathless, eyes widened and complexion flushed. your eyes darted around the environment, overwrought that somebody had espied the peck.  
“‘cause i can,” he answered, sentence slurred together, a crooked grin plastered across his features.  
“b-but the others, they might see—” you stuttered, reluctant to indulge in your crush for fear that your peers would comment on it.  
“who cares? they know you’re gay,” lucas replied matter-of-factly. his fingertips were intertwining in the frayed yarn of your scarf.  
“they do?” you inquired rhetorically, bewildered that you had been that conspicuous, and swiftly gathered yourself to continue, “do they know about you?”  
“i don’t know…it was never anything i, y’know, thought to announce,” he shivered, immaculate teeth beginning to chatter. the daydream snowfall had become a historic blizzard in meager minutes of standing within it, weathering it.  
“you’re cold,” you observed, brow furrowed concernedly. “let’s get you inside with some cocoa in hand.”  
“fine, alright…but you owe me a visit to the mistletoe later,” he smirked impishly, scooting through the doorway into a gust of heated air from the low hum of the furnace.  
“what took you kids so long out there?” andy hollered from the carpeting, head propped onto his palm, elbow shoveling into the flooring.  
“i, uh, dropped my phone! in the snow! we couldn’t find it for a second there,” you fibbed, duplicitously eyeing lucas for any objection. you hastened toward the kitchenette in the corner of your living space to prep a batch of hot chocolate and marshmallows with pillowy whipped cream atop it, head down, cheeks a scalding roseate.  
“when are we going to open presents?” stacy enthusiastically asked, clapping her hands together. everybody in the room glanced at her, and she spouted out, “what? giving gifts is my favorite part of the whole damn holiday!”  
“still think we should’ve gone with the white elephant theme. i’m shit at picking out presents,” noah huffed exasperatedly, gulping an opaque glass of iced water to counteract the impending hangover.  
“white elephant gifts can be fun, but they ruin the magic of somebody receiving something they genuinely like,” lily admonished with an adrenalized nod in agreement from stacy.  
with a platter of steaming mugs emanating a hazily familiar redolence of rich chocolate grasped between your hands, you strode forward toward the seating area, mouth pressed into a firm line. “bon appétit! i present to you my best hangover and frostbite preventative,” you bantered as each friend elongated themselves for a coffee cup, their palms instantaneously thawed from the warmth.  
“who goes first?” dan queried following his sip of his beverage.  
stacy bounced up from her cross-legged whereabouts on the plush sofa, pointing her index finger outward and murmuring the rhythm to “eenie meenie miney moe”.  
“how old are you?” ava quipped sharply, provoking lighthearted snickers from those environing her.  
“—catch a tiger by his toe, if he hollers let him go, eenie meenie miney moe!” stacy exclaimed, smile broadening as her gaze perched atop lucas.  
you perked up, his glasses befuddled with fog from the steam of his cocoa, rolling his eyes in humorous vexation.  
andy, dan, and noah hooted and hollered as lucas stood with a taunting curtsy before the christmas tree, which scintillated with multi-colored string lights and a glistening star atop the pinewood branches. beneath, the scarlet skirt—fashioned with white silhouettes of santa claus’ sleigh being shepherded by reindeer—was home to an assemblage of shipshape, neatly-wrapped gifts. after scavenging for the present with his nametag sticker adhered to it, he eagerly tore into the powder blue snowflake design, lacerating the cellotape with impatient fingertips.  
“i wonder what it is…and who it is…” he waggled his brows, grinning mischievously. he chattered aimlessly as he unsheathed the present, but abruptly halted, his peers joining him when they collectively realized what lucas was cradling.  
“i—” he stuttered, turning the expensive calligraphy pen and custom moleskin notebook with his name engraved upon it over in his manicured hands.  
“do you have a guess?” lily chimed in, eyes glistering, elated for her friend.  
“huh?” he stumbled, not glancing up from sifting meaningfully through each parchment page.  
“for who your secret santa is!” lily pressed with you in her peripheral vision, her expression smug with an all-knowingness.  
“this…this kind of thoughtfulness could only have come from one person in this room,” he proclaimed, gaze settling unto you, angling his framework towards you, his demeanor earnest. “i can’t thank you enough. this’ll be perfect for scheduling and planning second semester. it’s—i mean, it’s really masterful how you picked this out. thank you.”  
you were taken aback by his abrupt sincerity, diffident with all eyes spun unto you like twine.  
“you’re, erm…you’re welcome. it’s really nothing,” you waved dismissively, your plump cheeks reddening like the bouquets of poinsettias displayed around your household.  
there was a hushedness that tumbled over everybody like tulle unfurling, and lucas’ fixed gaze is set unto you, scrutinizing you pensively.  
“should we move on?” andy queried, fracturing the precipitous silence.  
“i vote yes!” stacy beamed, triumphant that the secret santa she had organized herself was already a victory.  
for the ensuing hour, gifts were extracted from festive wrapping paper. ava clutched a deck of tarot cards to her heart; lily uncoiled a print of pixel art; stacy plucked open an envelope with tickets to the cheerleading worlds tournament; noah tugged a handmade beanie on in place of his navy blue striped hat; andy bounced a signed basketball from his preferred player; dan flipped through the parchment of a box set of novels; you, tickets to your latest musical infatuation.  
you wandered into your bedroom to step away from your congregation of friends and fasten your tickets in the safekeeping of your jewelry box. there was an almost inaudible knock at your oak door, and hesitantly, you shouted, “come in!”  
“hey, i hope i’m not interrupting,” lucas greeted you, heedful that you ofttimes require time to breathe and center yourself during social gatherings.  
“no, not really,” you smiled half-heartedly, unanticipatedly feeling deflated.  
“everything okay? you seem…far away,” he surveyed, and you nodded somberly, acknowledging that you were, in fact, somewhere else.  
“i guess i’m worried about us. anxious. i don’t want us to be another failed relationship. i like you too much for that,” you confided in him, your voice small.  
“i can’t guarantee that we’re going to be together forever—but i can promise you that i’m going to put my all into this, if you’re comfortable with that,” he plighted, finger underneath your chapped chin, raising it to meet his own.  
“i am,” you concurred, eyes interlocking in spite of your apprehensiveness.  
lucas grinned at you momentarily until he suddenly remembered what he had in store for you, “i got you something separate from secret santa.”  
“you did now?” you beamed sportively, turning the gift over in your calloused palms.  
“shut up and open it!” lucas frivolously smacked your bicep, and you held your hands up in surrender.  
soon, you were eagerly shredding the polished wrapping paper, and came to be acquainted with a cardboard box, which held another smaller velvet box. your fingers curled around the edges, and you heaved it open to find a glistening necklace with a key dangling from the glittering rose gold chain.  
“it’s a skeleton key,” lucas elucidated, rubbing his neck timorously. “it was for this old estate in the neighborhood we grew up in.”  
“a taste of home,” you mumbled to yourself, running your fingertips along the rusted surface of the key.  
“do you like it?” lucas questioned ardently.  
“like it? i _love it_ , lucas,” you responded, panting for the breath you didn’t acknowledge that you had been holding. before you could think better of it, you intertwined your fingers with his.  
lucas was bashful, and you relayed a glimpse of disappointment, to which he clarified, “listen, i’m sobered up now, and i want to apologize for earlier. the kiss. i shouldn’t have been forceful.”  
“how about a do-over?” you recommended, your toes wiggling with devilment.  
“a what?” his nose crinkled like roasted french fries in bewilderment.  
you guided him out of your bedroom dimly lit with fairy bulbs and downstairs toward the foyer.  
“you know the rules,” you pointed upward to where a vibrant mistletoe was suspended from the archway. lucas broke into a sheepish smile before leaning in to meet your lips.  
“merry christmas, lucas,” you wished between kisses, exchanging breaths with him.  
_“merry christmas.”_  



End file.
